Attorney and Writer
Karenna Gore Schiff
Notes from Evan Smith
"It can be fairly said that no child of a big time, highly visible politician asked for this life--asked for the intense media scrutiny, asked to be always on best behavior, asked to live so much of the time on the road, or, by contrast, with one or both parents away--asked to live up to other people's expectations. When George W. Bush's father won the White House, he wasn't exactly a kid, but he still felt the pressure of being presidential offspring--and took great interest in a report that detailed the hard lives of others who'd been in his situation. Fast forward more than a decade to see what that same George W. Bush's own children have endured, to say nothing of Mary Cheney, the vice president's daughter, whose sexuality became an issue in the 2004 campaign, and even Chelsea Clinton, whose every move is still fodder for the gossip columns. In that respect, maybe this week's guest, Karenna Gore Schiff, should be happy that her dad didn't win--at least officially--in 2000. The 32-year-old eldest daughter of former vice president Al Gore isn't exactly anonymous--her first book, Lighting The Way: Nine Women Who Changed Modern America, was published earlier this year--but at least she's in control of her own life. Born in Tennessee, educated at Harvard University and Columbia Law School, Schiff works for the nonprofit Association to Better Children and lives in New York, where the speculation is that she might one day run for elective office--maybe to succeed a certain possible president-elect in the United States Senate. She demurs, but it's clear that this poised and engaging young women has a bright future ahead of her, with or without her dad's help--and has successfully survived her time in the spotlight." - Evan Smith, Texas Monthly Talks, Broadcast 5.25.06
